Question 1) what are the main lesson for foreign marketer operating in highly religious country such as Indonesia? There are many lessons that foreign marketers learn from operating in highly religious country such as Indonesia. First of all, in a highly religious country especially Indonesia, which has the highest number of Muslim in the world, their business operation, perception, behavior and rules and regulation, are affected by their religious and belief. Hence, it is very important to understand their religions and its effect on the business operation or as such if foreign marketers would like to perform successfully in Indonesia, offending others and get a full cooperation and respect.
Islam has got 5 Pillars of faith that affects they way they do business and life. Firstly, there is no god other than Allah and Mohammed is his prophet. Hence, everything that they do should follow the instrution of Allah or as stated in Koran or else it would be breaking the laws of GOD.
English: A green version of http://commons.wikimed...
English: The Muslim population of the world map by...
English: Map of the Muslim Population by Percentag...Secondly, it is the 5 times prayers which has become the daily habit of Muslim. It is very important for foreigner to understand that they need to do their prayers 5 times daily and excused them during discusion or meeting. So, if foreigners have understood their religious habit, they would not get offended or else they might if someone suddenly wants to excuse themselves from a meeting room. And when that happens, uninformed foreigner might give an unpleasant feedback, which in turn could cause conflict. Better still, if foreigner could remind them as a show of understanding and appreciation of their religion. Thirdly, it is the Friday prayer, which is done every Friday, and necessary for all male and optional for female. Thus, by understanding this, foreigner would not try to do or discuss their business...